Guess who's back? Yes, you guessed correctly and on your first try, it's that adorable yellow alien from The Behemoth's Alien Hominid HD and we just learned that he'll be making an appearance in the August 27th release of Castle Crashers. As a playable character at that. Developer The Behemoth confirmed that the alien would be insta-unlocked as a playable character in Castle Crashers for those who already purchased the XBLA release of Alien Hominid HD, but can still be earned by those who don't own the game. Also, per The Behemoth's graphic above (which we totally ninja-stole), there will be a free Castle Crashers theme and gamer pictures come launch week. Big w00tz to that!

If The Martian DS looks a little rough on the edges, it's because the title was originally created by a team of three for a 72-hour game development competition four years ago. The resulting project is actually quite impressive, considering, and we're happy to see that one of the original developers took the time to create a homebrew port of it for the DS.

Short but sweet, The Martian DS is a side-scrolling shooter in the vein of Alien Hominid. Players roam the city picking up weapons and power-ups while dodging constant gunfire from the local law enforcement. The game really suffers from the lack of a soundtrack, but the original character sprites, especially the donut-heaving boss, makes up for it.


[Via GBATemp]

When The Behemoth's crew isn't too busy making custom trophies, or working on Castle Crashers, they're obviously throwing together some PDA stages for Alien Hominid HD. The second pack of 100 PDA levels is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace for 150 Microsoft Points. If you're in a spending mood, you can also pick up some new gamer pictures, as there are two packs with 5 pics a piece, each for 100 MS Points. Do you play the PDA minigame in Alien Hominid? If so, do you play solo or multiplayer?

Showing what an awesome development team they are, The Behemoth gave Major Nelson a custom, hand made FBI Agent trophy. This was in thanks for his support of their first title for Xbox Live Arcade, Alien Hominid HD, back in late February. Now, some of you may remember that The Behemoth was going to give away trophies for those at the top of the leaderboards of the game.

Major, being an MS employee was not eligible to win, no matter how mad his skillz, so they hooked him up with this absolutely badass trophy, and he's posted pics on his flickr page of the gift and the thank you letter included in the package. Hopefully, The Behemoth will remember X3F and our GDC interview when Castle Crashers lands on Arcade, right guys?

According to Gamasutra's Simon Carless, the independent scene is facing an uphill battle when developing for consoles, specifically in the realm of digital distribution. Carless argues that the difficulty in bringing a title across all platforms, both for technological and business reasons.

Other than some retro titles (e.g. Joust), a very small number of downloadable title are appearing on both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Capcom's Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is one of the few exceptions, and Capcom's Christian Svensson said it required "considerable coordination" to get the titles on both consoles, which indicates to us that less established independent houses would have insurmountable difficulty.

Carless notes that Sony's collection, retro games aside, are predominantly first party (though we should note that flOw went to Sony because they actively sought out the independent title). Nintendo has always talked about bringing original games to the Wii, and there have been murmurings of a Game Channel, but so far all the only tangible indication of a non-Virtual Console title is Impossible Mission.

Carless' analogy to the film industry (three separate formats for theatre chains), though admittedly ham-fisted, does not account for industry history. It may be unfair to the independent developer, but there hasn't been a time when gaming was controlled by a single format. Sure, development teams are now much larger and require a bigger budget, but that hasn't stopped smaller teams from succeeding with Geometry Wars, Ragdoll Kung-Fu, and Alien Hominid (pictured). The state of indie games isn't ideal, but it seems to be getting better. We say keep on fighting, Simon.

Some of you have been working very hard. You've been blasting FBI and KGB agents in XBLA's Alien Hominid HD like you were born to do it, and why? All to earn the loving praise (and promised prize) from creator, The Behemoth. The indie-developer has documented, in excruciating detail, the laborious process they undertook to hand craft each trophy, which will be sent out to the winners as determined every Saturday afternoon. But this ain't no t-shirt you can buy in a store, or win on a gaming blog. These are for champions only! So get practicing ... you've got a ways to go before you'll trump the likes of Bilgewater or Eric The Duke.

A while back, The Behemoth offered the best Alien Hominid HD players a chance to win custom trophies for staying on top of the leaderboards. And today, they announced the winners and sent out the shiny hardware. Each winner will receive a trophy that was created in-house, customized with the winner's gamertag, and dated. There are also a few gamers who went above and beyond the call of duty and will be eternally immortalized in The Behemoth's hall of fame.

And if you're a tad jealous that you didn't win a trophy, don't worry. The Behemoth manufactured over 150 extra trophy bases for future giveaways. Loving fellas aren't they?

Read - Trophy making process.
Read - Leaderboard winners.

Yeah, yeah, we know we're late on this, but die-hard Alien Hominid fans should know that there are now even more PDA levels available for download in Alien Hominid HD. The content is called the "PDA Euro pack" and contains 100 new PDA levels that have never been seen inside the US. So, if you live in Europe then there really isn't all that much to get excited about. Of course, there is a brand new episode of the Xbox 360 Fancast available. That's sort of exciting, right? No? Oh, alright then.

Those of us lost in the Egyptian ball busting action found in Luxor 2 may have missed the new content available for Alien Hominid HD. The new content adds 100 new levels to the PDA mini-game found in Alien Hominid HD. The new levels can be had for the pittance of 150 Microsoft Points. In addition to the new levels, 2 new Alien Hominid picture packs are available for 100 points each. Sure, it's not as exciting as, say, Castle Crashers, but it might be a worthy purchase if you've got some spare points in your account, which you probably do if you bought Luxor 2. Funny how that works out, isn't it?

Our Alien Hominid HD Giveaway has come to an end and it is okay to shed a tear or two. But let's divulge who the winner of yesterday's day 3 giveaway was. The winner of an autographed Alien Hominid figurine set is ... drumroll ... Cam! Congratulations Cam, we know those figurines will be proudly displayed in your cubicle. Again, we must thank The Behemoth for their generosity in donating these prizes during their leaderboards giveaway. Those guys are definitely cool dudes. And a big thanks goes out to you, all the fanboy readers, for participating as we hope to have more giveaways in the near future. You guys are cool dudes too.

Update 1: This contest is now closed. For the winner click here.

It's the third day of our Alien Hominid HD Giveaway and we're pleased to announced day 2's winners. Both taking home an Alien Hominid tshirt is ... drumroll ... Chris and MuffNman! Congrats guys, you both have equally interesting reasons why aliens are much cooler than pirates. But onward to today's prize.

Today we're going out with a bang by giving away one autographed Alien Hominid figurine set (pictured above). This set is numbered and autographed by both Dan Paladin and Tom Fulp, more pictures after the break. To win, simply comment on this post stating where you'll showcase these Alien Hominid figurines if you won this giveaway. It's really that easy. One winner will be randomly chosen today at 11:59 PM EST and will be announced tomorrow. Again, to enter, simply write a comment stating where you'll showcase these figurines if you won. A big thanks goes out to The Behemoth for donating the Alien Hominid swag for the giveaway. Also, be sure to check out their leaderboards giveaway going on now!

Rules: Please read the complete official rules for this giveaway. Remember, this giveaway is only open to US residents who are 13 years of age or older. Day three contest ends on 3/23/07 at 11:59 PM EST, when one winner will be randomly selected.

Update 1: This contest is now closed. For the winner click here.

It's the second day of our Alien Hominid HD Giveaway and we're pleased to announced day 1's winner. Taking home an XL Alien Hominid tshirt is ... drumroll ... Erik Novak! Congrats Erik Novak, who thinks The Behemoth's chicken got so obese by eating too many Soylent McNuggets. But onward to today's prize.

Today we're giving away two Alien Hominid tshirts (pictured above) in both L and XL sizes. To win one of these tshirts, simply comment on this post stating why you think aliens are cooler than pirates. It's really that easy. Two winners will be randomly chosen today at 11:59 PM EST and will be announced tomorrow. Again, to enter, simply write a comment stating why you think aliens are cooler than pirates. A big thanks goes out to The Behemoth for donating the Alien Hominid swag for the giveaway. Also, be sure to check out their leaderboards giveaway going on now!

Rules: Please read the complete official rules for this giveaway. Remember, this giveaway is only open to US residents who are 13 years of age or older. Day two contest ends on 3/22/07 at 11:59 PM EST, when two winners will be randomly selected.

Update 1: This contest is now closed. For the winner click here.

Today we're kicking off our three day Alien Hominid HD Giveaway! Today's prize is one Alien Hominid XL tshirt (pictured above) to prevent you from having to walk around naked. So, how do you win this lovely tshirt? Simply comment on this post stating how you think The Behemoth's chicken (as seen in their logo) got so obese. It's really that simple. One winner will be randomly chosen today at 11:59 PM EST and will be announced tomorrow. Again, to enter, simply write a comment stating how you think The Behemoth's chicken got so obese. A big thanks goes out to The Behemoth for donating the Alien Hominid swag for the giveaway. Also, be sure to check out their leaderboards giveaway going on now!

Rules: Please read the complete official rules for this giveaway. Remember, this giveaway is only open to US residents who are 13 years of age or older. Day one contest ends on 3/21/07 at 11:59 PM EST, when one winner will be randomly selected.

Alien Hominid HD graced our Xbox 360s a few weeks ago creating a man-crush between us and that little yellow alien. But what are fanboys to do to live out our daily Alien Hominid fantasies? Maybe a nifty tshirt or a limited edition figurine set would help, but how does one get such exciting items?

Well, our good friends over at The Behemoth (Alien Hominid's daddy) were kind enough to send us some goodies. Why? Because they like you and because yesterday they launched their leaderboard trophy giveaway and want to spread the alien love. We'll be giving out a total of four prizes this week running from Wednesday through Friday. Wondering how you're supposed to win? Every day the contest will be different, so be prepared for pretty much anything. The giveaways start tomorrow, so prepare yourself by analyzing the prize breakdown below.

• Wednesday's Prize: Alien Hominid tshirt XL
• Thursday's Prize: Alien Hominid tshirts XL and L
• Friday's Prize: Autographed Alien Hominid figurine set

Click here for Official Contest Rules

Thanks again to The Behemoth for donating the sweet prizes. And be sure to check out their Alien Hominid HD leaderboard giveaway to try and win one of their shiny trophies.

Castle Crashers is a chaotic storm of spinning swords, overly aggressive primary colors and the occasional (but never displeasing) decapitation -- which is why we like it. Though the GDC demo boasts only a few notable changes from previous iterations, it still warrants a look. A long and loving look accompanied by a forlorn sigh and the formation of a gently sparkling tear.

One of the most interesting things about the game is the manner in which it draws your attention. It's even a little conflicting, as if two sets of fingers are snapping in your face in an alternating pattern. When you're not trying to spot your character deep within the colorful anarchy of battle, you're adopting a wider view of all the over-the-top action. It's like a tug of war, and one not too dissimilar from the battle between order and chaos that's at the core of the game.